Vampiric Interdiction

[12] Unexpected Expectations

Karolinna slowed to a stop at the water’s edge, and looked back to see her home was far behind her. If she had any doubts, she was much too far from salvation to give in to them. Miles off in the distance the estate was nothing but a blurred smear against the musky-blue canvas of the sky, fiery balls of light speckling all around it. Turning back to the pond she paused a moment to take in it’s beauty. Steam rose off the surface that was so still it could pass for frozen. Had she not known any better, Karolinna wouldn’t have been able to assure herself that it wasn’t. Molten Lake never froze, no matter how cold the nights got.

Placing her gloved hand over her chest, she pressed her palm into the left cavity, willing her heart to beat slower. It was more than just the run that revved it; excitement pounded hard on every single wall of the organ as if trapped inside and desperately searching for the way out. Karolinna could feel the beads forming on her back and dripping downwards. Her body had risen in temperature so high that she wished she had made the trek from home longer and moved at a slower pace. She couldn’t have risked it though, she was already worried she might have been seen. 

Though the night air was far from warm and balmy, trickles soon turned to profuse amounts of sweat. The thick cloak of leather that covered every inch of her was there for protection, and she knew she couldn’t dare remove it, but she wanted nothing more. To strip down to her bare essentials and feel the cool air on her skin. Doing so however, would be madness. Karolinna thought back to the gruesome display of Villahr’s blackened flesh, and threw all such thoughts from her mind.

She sat down on the cold ground. It was squishy and wet, but she did not seem to mind nor notice as she backed into a cluster of smoke-stain-grey and white birches, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Wide and full of amazement, Karolinna took in all the sights that she had become quite familiar with and they seemed in a way completely different without the usual glow of the sun upon them. It was like a whole new world. One that she’d been shut out to night-after-night.

As children, Villahr and Karolinna would on occasion slip into the night when no one was keeping a close enough eye as they should, but it was so long ago the sensation was impossible to recall — that and they didn’t manage to stay out there long before someone rushed out to snatch them from the lawn and drag them back to the warm confines of the house.

Villahr’s memory withheld more than Karolinna could possibly imagine. Every day she learned something new. He was considerably older than her after all, so it made sense that he had seen more of the world, but it wasn’t always that way. There was a time when they were chronologically in sync. Although there were so many memories of time spent with Villahr, Karolinna found it quite difficult to recall any moments of independence. There were so few. She knew why, and didn’t feel she was bitter for the reason, but she did sometimes wonder what she had missed. She would never stop digging, and fortunately, Villahr would always be there to help her when her shovel hit a boulder.

Letting out an purposeless sigh, Karolinna folded her arms over her chest and nestled into trees behind her, white dust from the bark coating the back of her jacket as she settled. She watched the pond begin to fog the air above it, condensed clouds of heated smoke hitting her in the face as the wind blew them away, like cutting the froth off the top of a refreshing beer — or in Karolinna’s case, a glass of frosted Chilla. She wondered what it must feel like, remembering the story Villahr had told her about the night that her Doseono had saved him from the moonlight’s wicked sting and the air’s cool bite. To be quite frank she was really contemplating a quick dip, but decided soon against it. She’d seen what happens when you mess with the moon and even she wasn’t that stupid.

A faint smile appeared on Karolinna’s face as she braved a look into the night sky and saw the great, white orb that took place of the sun. Even after only a few seconds she could feel her eyes tingling and the skin of her face beginning to smart. She tried her hardest not to look any long than necessary, having seen what she set out to, but couldn’t resist a few quick glances here and there, figuring her body heat would soon return any damage back to normal if she avoided looking directly at it for long periods. She knew the harm the moon could cause her, and the great amount of trouble she would end up in if it were known she were out at this hour, but at the moment she couldn’t be bothered to care. The moon kept tugging at her gaze, like it was magnetized, and she was having a terrible time evading it’s pull.